Dilemma Owner of Runners Supply, Julie Yellowrobe has discovered that while her business is doing well, it is no longer experiencing increasing sales. She believes this leveling out has occurred because her previous target market has aged over the past 20 years and have turned to other less strenuous activities to keep in shape and an increase in competition from fashion and discount retailers. Julie has attempted to introduce a wider range of product including more fashionable and custom made products. The fashion product created a direct competition with discount outlets such as Wal-mart who could cut prices more deeply than she could. The custom made product captivated the attention of the serious runner however her previous supplier went out of business leaving her a more financially risky alternative.
• Competitors like Marvel are wooing customers with low cost per click-through • Condition-specific websites like cholesterol.com has a better chance of converting a visitor to a customer. • Setting a price competitive to Marvel’s would drop MedNet’s revenue by 80% • Since advertisements are the only source of revenue, MedNet’s has to rethink their revenue generation strategy to sustain their business. • It is considered as a product problem because they may have to change the value proposition Note that technology is fragmenting the market and disrupting the business model What are the decision options? • Charging for the content, treating site visitors as patients. • Extend coverage of alternative health information • Develop and manage corporate websites What does he/she need to know to make a decision?
However, Calyx & Corolla has only $10 million sales in a $9 billion industry. Its competitors range from traditional florists, FTD which includes 800-Flowers that is quickly increasing its market share and supermarkets which are trying to move upmarket. Furthermore, there are emerging companies such as Floral Gift Express and Stillwater who are trying to replicate Calyx & Corolla’s direct mail concept. This results in a highly competitive and fragmented market. Given that most of these existing players focus on holidays, occasions and events to provide flowers and delivery service, one recommendation for Calyx & Corolla is to drive growth through creation of regular / constant demand for flowers in its existing segments where it already has strong traction and brand awareness.
University of San Francisco “Zara: IT for Fast Fashion” Submitted to Dr. Helmut Buehler In Partial Fulfillment Of the requirements for the course MSIS 625 – IT Policy and Strategy By Cuong Le 4/10/2013 Defining the issues (Background and Problem Statement) Zara’s leadership molded a fast-paced business model where the company has three strategies and they would expect their current IT structure to complement each process of their business and decentralized culture. One of Zara’s strength is that the company has the ability to respond quickly to customers’ demands and fashion trends (McAfee, Pg. 3). Second, they have a decentralize decision making system, which permits store managers to make their own assessments about clothes and trends for their own specific store (McAfee, Pg. 3).
Bloomingdales is a higher end store that sells high quality products at a high price. They are currently losing many customers because the economy will not move out of the stagnation period. Right now the customers need to be saving their money in case they need it later to pay bills rather than spending it on clothing. Many consumers are starting to shop at stores like Macy’s or Kohl’s where they are offered almost the same quality products at lower prices. Some of Bloomingdales biggest competitors are Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Barneys New York, Lord & Taylor and Nordstrom.
This intuitive process looks at the past and studies trends, behaviors and historic facts but also looks into the present and the future to really understand what’s happening right now and what might be happening in the future. Why forecast? Forecasting is fundamental for everyone who works in the Fashion Industry. It’s an essential tool to plan everything from the marketing department to the window display composition in a store. It helps the market to anticipate and answer the “needs” of the consumers and what they will wish next.
In conclusion, prêt-a-porter appeared by demand of time. In addition, they couldn’t operate their ateliers only for haute couture because a development of manufacturing technology created wider marketplaces. Prêt-a-porter attracted a lot of attention more than Haute Couture, and it became popular in 50s. The other distinguishable difference is their purpose of making clothes. In other words, who are their customers, who buy their clothes and pay a lot of the money for them.
However, it is important to recognise that the competition in luxury fashion is not based on price but rather on image perception and brand value and quality. It could be argued that competitive rivalry is slightly lower in emerging markets because of their recent development and the slower entrance of key players in this industry. Potentially, this can be offset by the competition of local fashion retailer. Bargaining Power of Buyers Luxury brands have all individual consumers to sell to globally but also in a given country. However, due to the higher prices, there is a certain segment to which these brands can appeal to – this strengthens the power of the buyers.
The Fashion Channel Purpose of Analysis: Increase revenue from advertisement for The Fashion Channel (TFC) Market Segmentation: Segments | Cluster size (in %) | Demographics | Attitude Drivers | Fashionistas | 15 | Female, 61% Income>$100K, 30%,18-34, 50% | Think lot about fashion | Planners and Shoppers | 35 | Female, 53% 18-34, 25% | Enjoy shoppingStay up to date | Situationalists | 30 | Female, 50%,18-34 30% | Enjoy shopping for specific needs | Basics | 20 | Female 45%Male 55% | Do not enjoy shopping at allDo not spend much time | | Favourable | Unfavourable | Internal | Strength 1. Dedicated network for fashion 2. 24X7 coverage of fashion 3. Accessible to all cable customer | Weakness 1. Low customer awareness and interest 2.
Case Summary The case is about the La Shampoo, which is a high quality and more expensive product that has a same marketing strategy over years. From 1989 the line started to slowly decline its sales. Caroline, the brand manager wanted a new marketing plan to improve the sales and increase the market share, not to just keep the product remain on retailers’ shelves. Caroline has been assisted for the new ideas flowing in from Eric Woolf – Sales Manger & Beth Hansol – Ad Agency representative. The solutions suggested by both of them were given a thought but then Caroline wasn’t convinced about the way forward The case was also examined by five other experts, whose recommendations had potent in their own way.